US10404568B2 - Agent manager for distributed transaction monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

An agent manager manages and configures a plurality of agents suitable for execution on different types of applications and server platforms. The agent manager may receive a collection of rules for determining how to deploy, manage and maintain different agents. The agent manager may collect data about the agents and a local machine, communicate with and configure the agents, and communicate with remote machines such as a controller. The agent manager may configure the agents based on one or more rules the agent receives, such as for example a set of rules provided by a controller. The agent manager may parse the received rules, identify any agents that need to be installed or uninstalled, installed agents that need to be turned on, off, or restarted, or agents that should be otherwise modified, for example with an update, a plug-in, a feature enabled or disabled, or some other update.

Description

BACKGROUND

The World Wide Web has expanded to provide numerous web services to consumers. The web services may be provided by a web application which uses multiple services and applications to handle a transaction. The applications may be distributed over several machines, making the topology of the machines that provide the service more difficult to track and monitor.

As the popularity of e-commerce e-services grows, the sophistication and architecture of network architectures has become more complicated as well. Applications may be implemented in several languages, and those diverse applications may be implemented on a variety of platforms, each having different rules and protocols for implementing programs.

The application performance monitoring (APM) systems that monitor the diverse applications on a variety of platforms become more complicated in order to comply with the application and platform protocols. Different portions of the APM often require a specific protocol or instructions to operate. What is needed is an improved system for monitoring an application having a diverse set of languages and platforms.

SUMMARY

The present technology, roughly described, provides an agent manager that manages and configures a plurality of agents suitable for execution on different types of applications and server platforms. The agent manager may receive a collection of rules for determining how to deploy, manage and maintain different agents. The agent manager may collect data regarding a local machine as well as agents installed on the machine, communicate with and configure the agents, and communicate with remote machines such as a controller.

The agent manager may configure the agents based on one or more rules the agent receives, such as for example a set of rules provided by a controller. The agent manager may parse the received rules, identify any agents that need to be installed or uninstalled, installed agents that need to be turned on, off, or restarted, or agents that should be otherwise modified, for example with an update, a plug-in, a feature enabled or disabled, or some other update.

An embodiment may include a method for managing agents that monitor a distributed transaction. An agent may be provided on a server that hosts an application of two or more applications. The application may be one of a plurality of applications that implement a distributed transaction, and the agent may monitor the application. An agent manager may be provided on the server that hosts the application. A set of rules may be received by the agent manager from a remote server. The set of rules may be applied by the agent manager to the agent. The set of rules may be applied by the agent manager to the agent to configure the agent.

An embodiment may include a system for managing agents that monitor a distributed transaction. The system may include a processor, memory, and one or more modules stored in memory and executable by the processor. When executed, the modules may provide an agent on a server that hosts an application of two or more applications, the application one of a plurality of applications that implement a distributed transaction, the agent monitoring the application, provide an agent manager on the server that hosts the application, receive a set of rules by the agent manager from a remote server, the set of rules to be applied by the agent manager to the agent, and apply the set of rules by the agent manager to the agent to configure the agent.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for implementing an agent manager in an application monitoring system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a server having a plurality of agents and an agent monitor.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an agent monitor.

FIG. 4 is a method for implementing an agent manager.

FIG. 5 is a method for creating a rule through a user interface.

FIG. 6 is a method for applying rules by an agent manager.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of computer for implementing the present technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The application monitoring system of the present technology includes an agent manager that manages and configures a plurality of agents suitable for execution on different types of applications and server platforms. The agent manager may receive a collection of rules for determining how to deploy, manage and maintain different agents. The agent manager may collect data regarding a local machine as well as agents installed on the machine, communicate with and configure the agents, and communicate with remote machines such as a controller.

The agent manager may configure the agents based on one or more rules the agent receives, such as for example a set of rules provided by a controller. The agent manager may parse the received rules, identify any agents that need to be installed or uninstalled, installed agents that need to be turned on, off, or restarted, or agents that should be otherwise modified, for example with an update, a plug-in, a feature enabled or disabled, or some other update.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for implementing an agent manager in an application monitoring system.System100 ofFIG. 1 includesclient device105 and192,mobile device115,network120,network server125,application servers130,140,150 and160,asynchronous network machine170,data stores180 and185,controller190, anddata collection server195.

Client device105 may includenetwork browser110 and be implemented as a computing device, such as for example a laptop, desktop, workstation, or some other computing device.Network browser110 may be a client application for viewing content provided by an application server, such asapplication server130 vianetwork server125 overnetwork120.

Network browser110 may includeagent112.Agent112 may be installed onnetwork browser110 and/orclient105 as a network browser add-on, downloading the application to the server, or in some other manner.Agent112 may be executed to monitornetwork browser110, the operation system ofclient105, and any other application, API, or other component ofclient105.Agent112 may determine network browser navigation timing metrics, access browser cookies, monitor code, and transmit data todata collection160,controller190, or another device.Agent112 may perform other operations related to monitoring a request or a network atclient105 as discussed herein.

Mobile device115 is connected tonetwork120 and may be implemented as a portable device suitable for sending and receiving content over a network, such as for example a mobile phone, smart phone, tablet computer, or other portable device. Bothclient device105 andmobile device115 may include hardware and/or software configured to access a web service provided bynetwork server125.

Mobile device115 may includenetwork browser117 and anagent119.Agent119 may reside in and/or communicate withnetwork browser117, as well as communicate with other applications, an operating system, APIs and other hardware and software onmobile device115.Agent119 may have similar functionality as that described herein foragent112 onclient105, and may repot data todata collection server160 and/orcontroller190.

Network120 may facilitate communication of data between different servers, devices and machines of system100 (some connections shown with lines tonetwork120, some not shown). The network may be implemented as a private network, public network, intranet, the Internet, a cellular network, Wi-Fi network, VoIP network, or a combination of one or more of these networks. Thenetwork120 may include one or more machines such as load balance machines and other machines.

Network server125 is connected tonetwork120 and may receive and process requests received overnetwork120.Network server125 may be implemented as one or more servers implementing a network service, and may be implemented on the same machine asapplication server130. Whennetwork120 is the Internet,network server125 may be implemented as a web server.Network server125 andapplication server130 may be implemented on separate or the same server or machine.

Application server130 communicates withnetwork server125,application servers140 and150, andcontroller190.Application server130 may also communicate with other machines and devices (not illustrated inFIG. 1).Application server130 may host an application or portions of a distributed application. The host application132 may be in one of many platforms, such as including a Java, PHP, .NET, Node.JS, be implemented as a Java virtual machine, or include some other host type.Application server130 may also include one or more agents134 (i.e. “modules”), including a language agent, machine agent, and network agent, and other software modules.Application server130 may be implemented as one server or multiple servers as illustrated inFIG. 1.

Application132 and other software onapplication server130 may be instrumented using byte code insertion, or byte code instrumentation (BCI), to modify the object code of the application or other software. The instrumented object code may include code used to detect calls received by application132, calls sent by application132, and communicate with agent134 during execution of the application. BCI may also be used to monitor one or more sockets of the application and/or application server in order to monitor the socket and capture packets coming over the socket.

In some embodiments,server130 may include applications and/or code other than a virtual machine. For example,server130 may include Java code, .NET code, PHP code, Ruby code, C code or other code to implement applications and process requests received from a remote source.

Agents134 onapplication server130 may be installed, downloaded, embedded, or otherwise provided onapplication server130. For example, agents134 may be provided inserver130 by instrumentation of object code, downloading the agents to the server, or in some other manner. Agents134 may be executed to monitorapplication server130, monitor code running in a Java virtual machine132 or other program language, such as a PHP, .NET, Node.js, Python, C, or C++), machine resources, network layer data, and communicate with byte instrumented code onapplication server130 and one or more applications onapplication server130.

Each of agents134,144,154 and164 may include one or more agents, such as a language agent, machine agents, and network agent. A language agent may be a type of agent that is suitable to run on a particular host. Examples of language agents include a JAVA agent, .Net agent, PHP agent, and other agents. The machine agent may collect data from a particular machine on which it is installed. A network agent may capture network information, such as data collected from a socket.

Agents134,144,154 and164 may also include an agent manager. The agent manager may install and uninstall agents, collect information from agents, applications, operating systems and machines on which they are installed, modify or update agents, and provide commands and instructions to agents. An agent manager is discussed in more detail with respect toFIG. 3.

Agent134 may detect operations such as receiving calls and sending requests byapplication server130, resource usage, and incoming packets. Agent134 may receive data, process the data, for example by aggregating data into metrics, and transmit the data and/or metrics tocontroller190. Agent134 may perform other operations related to monitoring applications andapplication server130 as discussed herein. For example, agent134 may identify other applications, share business transaction data, aggregate detected runtime data, and other operations.

An agent may operate to monitor a node, tier or nodes or other entity. A node may be a software program or a hardware component (memory, processor, and so on). A tier of nodes may include a plurality of nodes which may process a similar business transaction, may be located on the same server, may be associated with each other in some other way, or may not be associated with each other.

Agent134 may create a request identifier for a request received by server130 (for example, a request received by aclient105 or115 associated with a user or another source). The request identifier may be sent toclient105 ormobile device115, whichever device sent the request. In embodiments, the request identifier may be created when a data is collected and analyzed for a particular business transaction. Additional information regarding collecting data for analysis is discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/878,919, titled “Monitoring Distributed Web Application Transactions,” filed on Sep. 9, 2010, U.S. Pat. No. 8,938,533, titled “Automatic Capture of Diagnostic Data Based on Transaction Behavior Learning,” filed on Jul. 22, 2011, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/365,171, titled “Automatic Capture of Detailed Analysis Information for Web Application Outliers with Very Low Overhead,” filed on Feb. 2, 2012, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Each ofapplication servers140,150 and160 may include an application and agents. Each application may run on the corresponding application server. Each ofapplications142,152 and162 on application servers140-160 may operate similarly to application132 and perform at least a portion of a distributed business transaction. Agents144,154 and164 may monitor applications142-162, collect and process data at runtime, and communicate withcontroller190. Theapplications132,142,152 and162 may communicate with each other as part of performing a distributed transaction. In particular each application may call any application or method of another virtual machine.

Asynchronous network machine170 may engage in asynchronous communications with one or more application servers, such asapplication server150 and160. For example,application server150 may transmit several calls or messages to an asynchronous network machine. Rather than communicate back toapplication server150, the asynchronous network machine may process the messages and eventually provide a response, such as a processed message, toapplication server160. Because there is no return message from the asynchronous network machine toapplication server150, the communications between them are asynchronous.

Data stores180 and185 may each be accessed by application servers such asapplication server150.Data store185 may also be accessed byapplication server150. Each ofdata stores180 and185 may store data, process data, and return queries received from an application server. Each ofdata stores180 and185 may or may not include an agent.

Controller190 may control and manage monitoring of business transactions distributed over application servers130-160. In some embodiments,controller190 may receive application data, including data associated with monitoring client requests atclient105 andmobile device115, fromdata collection server160. In some embodiments,controller190 may receive application monitoring data and network data from each ofagents112,119,134,144 and154.Controller190 may associate portions of business transaction data, communicate with agents to configure collection of data, and provide performance data and reporting through an interface. The interface may be viewed as a web-based interface viewable by client device192, which may be a mobile device, client device, or any other platform for viewing an interface provided bycontroller190. In some embodiments, a client device192 may directly communicate withcontroller190 to view an interface for monitoring data.

Client device192 may include any computing device, including a mobile device or a client computer such as a desktop, workstation or other computing device. Client computer192 may communicate withcontroller190 to create and view a custom interface. In some embodiments,controller190 provides an interface for creating and viewing the custom interface as content page, e.g., a web page, which may be provided to and rendered through a network browser application on client device192.

Applications132,142,152 and162 may be any of several types of applications. Examples of applications that may implement applications132-162 include a Java, PHP, .Net, Node.JS, and other applications.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an application server having a plurality of agents and an agent manager.Server200 includesapplications202,204 and206,agents212,214, and216, andagent manager220.Server200 may have one of several operating systems, such as Linux, iOS, Android and Windows. Applications202-206 may be one of several types of applications, such as for example a Java, .Net, PHP, Node. JS, Python, C++, iOS, Android, or some other type of application. Each of these applications, being in a potentially different language or executing on a different platform, may have its own rules and protocols for installation, starting, and stopping, communication and other protocols.

Agents212,214, and216 may monitorapplications202,204, and206, respectively. As a result, each of these agents is compatible with the particular type of application. Thus, an agent may be configured to communicate with a Java, .Net, PHP, Node. JS, Python, C++, iOS, Android, Windows, or other protocol used by the particular application. Additionally, the agent may be configured monitor server resources, a network, or some other type of agent.

Agent manager220 may communicate with each of agents212-216, complying with communication and other protocols implemented by each agent. More detail for an agent manager is provided with respect toFIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an agent manager. The agent manager may include anidentification module310,state module320,core330, andbootstrap340.Agent manager300 may receive rules305, such as for example from a controller which receives user configured rules or generates rules in some other manner. The rules may include one or more sets of an action, recipient agent, and machine type. The rules may indicate what action to perform on a particular type of agent on a particular type of machine. For example, the rules may indicate that Java agents should be started on Windows machines, or on Windows machines in a particular server cluster.

TheID module310 may collect data on the server on which it is installed. The information may include a list of the installed agent, installed agent status, machine information such as an IP address and operating system, and other information. The information collected by theID module310 may be provided tostate module320 for reporting to the controller as well as tocore330 for determining how to apply rules.

State module320 may communicate with each agent to update an agent, install, uninstall and restart the agents, enable and disable agent features and plugins, and provide other actions and commands to an agent.

Core330 may parse the received rules and determine whether any action needs to be taken by the particular agent manager.Core330 may include logic to perform the parsing, determine if any rules apply to the present machine and agent manager, and carry-out any required actions. If action does need to be taken, thecore330 module includes logic that will provide instructions tostate module320 based on the rules and data collected by theidentification module310.

Bootstrap340 may be used to download and install theagent manager300 as well as provide updates to the agent manager.

FIG. 4 is a method for implementing an agent manager. First, agent managers are deployed on machines atstep410. Deployment of an agent manager may include installing a bootstrap module on a particular application server, and allowing the bootstrap module to download and install the files required to generate the agent manager. Agent managers, once installed, may collect data atstep420. The data collection may be performed byID module310 at the local application server. The collected data may include the quantities and types of agents currently installed on the application server, as well as their status (installed, started, error state) machine information such as IP address and operating system, as well as other information.

An agent manager may report data to a controller atstep430. The reported data may include the status of the agents, the status of the agent manager, receipt confirmation of a set of rules, and other data and information. At some point, one or more rules may be created, for example by a user, atstep440. The rule may be created in several ways, including through an interface provided to user through a web browser. The rule may identify an action to take on a particular type of agent located on a particular type of machine or platform. Creating a rule is discussed in more detail with respect to the method ofFIG. 5.

The one or more rules may be distributed to an agent manager, for example by the controller, atstep450. In some instances, all agent managers will receive an entire set or “book” of rules. In some implementations, the agent manager on a particular machine may receive rule updates, a subset of an entire set of rules based on the applications or machine associated with the agent manager, or some other subset of rules other than the entire set of rules. The rules may be received periodically, in response to an event that occurs at the controller, or in response to an event at or request by the agent manager.

After receiving the rules, the agent manager applies the rules to the agents at the application server atstep460. In some instances, the logic for performing each action is contained in the core of the agent manager. The logic may be implemented as a script or other set of instructions once the rule is received by the agent manager. More details for applying rules by an agent manager are described with respect to the method ofFIG. 6.

FIG. 5 is a method for creating rules. First, a selection of an agent is received atstep510. Method500 ofFIG. 5 provides more detail forstep440 of the method ofFIG. 4. The agent selection may include one or more types of agents, such as for example a Java, .Net, PHP, Node. JS, Python, C++, iOS, Android, machine, network, or other type of agent. A selection of a desired action for those selected agents is received atstep520. The actions may be anything that may be applied to a particular agent, such as for example install or uninstall, start or end, update or revert to a previous version, install or remove a particular plug-in, and enable or disable a feature.

A selection of machines to implement the action is received atstep530. The machines by platform, type, logical grouping, geographical location, or some other grouping. A preference for implementing the rules is then received atstep540. The preference may include applying the rules once, applying the rules periodically over time, based on a particular event, or in some other manner. Once the rules are created, they may be transmitted to one or more agent managers in communication with a controller.

FIG. 6 is a method for applying a set of rules. The method ofFIG. 6 provides more detail forstep460 the method ofFIG. 4. First, the agent manager receives rules, for example from the controller, atstep610. The agent manager may then parse the received rules atstep620. The parsing may be performed by logic contained in the core of the agent manager. The parsing may identify the particular action, agent type to apply the action, machine at which the rules should be implemented, and other implementation rules (such as when to apply the rule).

An agent manager determines whether the local machine is relevant to the implemented rule atstep630. If the rule specifies that action should be taken to one or more machines that includes the local machine, then the local machine is relevant to the rule. If the agent determines that no action is to be taken on the local machine because the local rules to not apply to the local machine, the local machine is not relevant to the rule and no further action is taken.

If the local machine is specified in a rule, the agent manager determines whether any agents exist locally that are relevant to the implemented rule atstep640. Agents are relevant to the implemented rule if the agent type installed on the local server matches one or more of the agents mentioned in the rules for which an agent action is to be performed or if an agent is to be installed. Downloading an agent may be performed by a state module within the agent manager. If action is to be taken with respect to one or more agents on the local machine, the agent manager may then perform tasks or transmit commands to the relevant local agents atstep650. The commands and tasks may include installing or uninstalling an agent, starting, stopping or restarting an agent, installing or uninstalling a plugin, enabling or disabling a feature, or otherwise configuring an agent.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a system for implementing the present technology.System700 ofFIG. 7 may be implemented in the contexts of the likes ofclient computer105 and192,servers125,130,140,150, and160,machine170,data stores180 and190, andcontroller190. Thecomputing system700 ofFIG. 7 includes one ormore processors710 andmemory720.Main memory720 stores, in part, instructions and data for execution byprocessor710.Main memory720 can store the executable code when in operation. Thesystem700 ofFIG. 7 further includes amass storage device730, portable storage medium drive(s)740,output devices750,user input devices760, agraphics display770, andperipheral devices780.

The components shown inFIG. 7 are depicted as being connected via asingle bus790. However, the components may be connected through one or more data transport means. For example,processor unit710 andmain memory720 may be connected via a local microprocessor bus, and themass storage device730, peripheral device(s)780,portable storage device740, anddisplay system770 may be connected via one or more input/output (I/O) buses.

Mass storage device730, which may be implemented with a magnetic disk drive, an optical disk drive, a flash drive, or other device, is a non-volatile storage device for storing data and instructions for use byprocessor unit710.Mass storage device730 can store the system software for implementing embodiments of the present invention for purposes of loading that software intomain memory720.

Portable storage device740 operates in conjunction with a portable non-volatile storage medium, such as a floppy disk, compact disk or Digital video disc, USB drive, memory card or stick, or other portable or removable memory, to input and output data and code to and from thecomputer system700 ofFIG. 7. The system software for implementing embodiments of the present invention may be stored on such a portable medium and input to thecomputer system700 via theportable storage device740.

Input devices760 provide a portion of a user interface.Input devices760 may include an alpha-numeric keypad, such as a keyboard, for inputting alpha-numeric and other information, a pointing device such as a mouse, a trackball, stylus, cursor direction keys, microphone, touch-screen, accelerometer, and other input devices. Additionally, thesystem700 as shown inFIG. 7 includesoutput devices750. Examples of suitable output devices include speakers, printers, network interfaces, and monitors.

Display system770 may include a liquid crystal display (LCD) or other suitable display device.Display system770 receives textual and graphical information, and processes the information for output to the display device.Display system770 may also receive input as a touch-screen.

Peripherals780 may include any type of computer support device to add additional functionality to the computer system. For example, peripheral device(s)780 may include a modem or a router, printer, and other device.

The system of700 may also include, in some implementations, antennas, radio transmitters andradio receivers790. The antennas and radios may be implemented in devices such as smart phones, tablets, and other devices that may communicate wirelessly. The one or more antennas may operate at one or more radio frequencies suitable to send and receive data over cellular networks, Wi-Fi networks, commercial device networks such as a Bluetooth device, and other radio frequency networks. The devices may include one or more radio transmitters and receivers for processing signals sent and received using the antennas.

The components contained in thecomputer system700 ofFIG. 7 are those typically found in computer systems that may be suitable for use with embodiments of the present invention and are intended to represent a broad category of such computer components that are well known in the art. Thus, thecomputer system700 ofFIG. 7 can be a personal computer, hand held computing device, smart phone, mobile computing device, workstation, server, minicomputer, mainframe computer, or any other computing device. The computer can also include different bus configurations, networked platforms, multi-processor platforms, etc. Various operating systems can be used including Unix, Linux, Windows, Macintosh OS, Android, C, C++, Node.JS, and other suitable operating systems.

The foregoing detailed description of the technology herein has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the technology to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The described embodiments were chosen in order to best explain the principles of the technology and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the technology in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the technology be defined by the claims appended hereto.

Claims (15)

What is claimed is:

1. A method for managing agents that monitor a distributed transaction, comprising:

providing an agent manager on a server in a computer network that hosts a plurality of applications, wherein the agent manager manages a plurality of agents executing on the server;

receiving, by the agent manager from a remote server, a set of rules to be applied by the agent manager to one or more agents of the plurality of agents, wherein the rules specify an agent type, an action to take with respect to the agent type, and a machine characteristic;

parsing, by the agent manager, the set of rules to determine one or more agents of the plurality of agents to apply the set of rules, wherein the parsing is based on the agent type, the action to take with respect to the agent type, and the machine characteristic specified in the set of rules;

determining, by the agent manager, which of the plurality of agents to apply the set of rules based on the how the set of rules are parsed; and

applying, by the agent manager, the set of rules by the agent manager to the determined agents to configure the agents.

2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising scanning a server that includes the agent manager, the agent and the application, the scanning performed by the agent manager to determine server information and the agents installed on the server.

3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein configuring an agent includes starting or stopping an agent.

4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the rules are created by a user through a user interface.

5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the set of rules is applied to a plurality of agent monitors, the plurality of agent monitors including the agent monitor on the server, each agent monitor installed on a different server, the same set of rules applied to each agent monitor on each server.

6. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a processor to perform a method for managing agents that monitor a distributed transaction, the method comprising:

providing an agent manager on a server in a computer network that hosts a plurality of applications, wherein the agent manager manages a plurality of agents executing on the server;

receiving, by the agent manager from a remote server, a set of rules to be applied by the agent manager to the agent, wherein the rules specify an agent type, an action to take with respect to the agent type, and a machine characteristic;

parsing the set of rules to determine one or more agents of the plurality of agents to apply the set of rules, wherein the parsing is based on the agent type, the action to take with respect to the agent type, and the machine characteristic specified in the set of rules;

determine which of the plurality of agents to apply the set of rules based on the how the set of rules are parsed; and

applying the set of rules by the agent manager to the determined agents to configure the agents.

7. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium ofclaim 6, the method further comprising scanning a server that includes the agent manager, the agent and the application, the scanning performed by the agent manager to determine server information and the agents installed on the server.

8. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium ofclaim 6, wherein configuring an agent includes starting or stopping an agent.

9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium ofclaim 6, wherein the rules are created by a user through a user interface.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium ofclaim 6, wherein the set of rules is applied to a plurality of agent monitors, the plurality of agent monitors including the agent monitor on the server, each agent monitor installed on a different server, the same set of rules applied to each agent monitor on each server.

11. A system for monitoring a garbage collection process, comprising:

a server including a memory and a processor; and

one or more modules stored in the memory and executed by the processor to provide an agent manager, wherein the agent manager manages a plurality of agents executing on the server, receive, by the agent manager from a remote server, a set of rules to be applied by the agent manager to one or more agents of the plurality of agents, wherein the rules specify an agent type, an action to take with respect to the agent type, and a machine characteristic, parse the set of rules to determine one or more agents of the plurality of agents to apply the set of rules, wherein the parsing is based on the agent type, the action to take with respect to the agent type, and the machine characteristic specified in the set of rules; determine which of the plurality of agents to apply the set of rules based on the how the set of rules are parsed, and apply the set of rules by the agent manager to the determined agents to configure the agents.

12. The system ofclaim 11, the one or more modules further executable to scan a server that includes the agent manager, the agent and the application, the scanning performed by the agent manager to determine server information and the agents installed on the server.

13. The system ofclaim 11, wherein configuring an agent includes starting or stopping an agent.

14. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the rules are created by a user through a user interface.

15. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the set of rules is applied to a plurality of agent monitors, the plurality of agent monitors including the agent monitor on the server, each agent monitor installed on a different server, the same set of rules applied to each agent monitor on each server.

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